A non-contact fixing method, such as oven fixing or flash fixing, in which a toner is fixed by applying heat or light energy to a toner in a non-contacting state, has a feature that generation of offset phenomenon and deterioration of resolution which are problematic in a contact fixing method are suppressed, or the like. Further, in a non-contact fixing method, since an unfixed image is not pressed, which is the case using a heat-roller fixing method, an even higher-quality image can be obtained.
However, since no pressure is applied to a toner in the non-contact fixing method, differently from the heat-roller fixing method, it is necessary to instantly melt the toner, and a great amount of calories are necessitated especially in high-speed machines such as one having a linear speed exceeding 750 mm/sec. Thus, improvement in the fixing ability is a serious problem to be solved. Therefore, toners for non-contact fixing using a specified resin binder are disclosed in JP-A-Hei-8-87130, JP-A-Hei-5-107805, and the like. In addition, JP-A-Hei-8-211648 discloses a toner for electrophotography containing an ester of which low-temperature fixing ability is improved, obtained from a neopentyl polyol, a dicarboxylic acid, and a long-chain linear saturated fatty acid.
In addition, it is clear that, for example, as in JP2004-77577 A, fixing ability in the non-contact fixing method can be improved by using crystalline polyester.